In a media briefing at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and Tiger Beer announced their five year strategic partnership with global sports brand Nike.

The partnership, effective immediately, starts with Nike kitting the Singapore National Team, Under-23, Under-21 and Young Lions with their home, away and training outfits. The deal also extends to all teams and academies under the FAS umbrella over the five year period.

Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, President of the FAS says: "The FAS is delighted to welcome Nike as our partner. The strategic alliance will give us the opportunity to leverage the resources, experience and network of global sports icon Nike and the world acclaimed Tiger Beer."

"We are confident that this partnership will play a key role in the Singapore football roadmap."

Mr Erik van Vulpen, Assistant General Manager of Marketing at Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, said, "We are very pleased to welcome Nike on board as the National Teams’ apparel sponsor and to join Tiger Beer and the FAS in a tripartite partnership to support local football and the Singapore Lions. Tiger Beer has been a passionate supporter of local football for over 10 years and we maintain our long-term goal to nurture the love for the sport in Singapore and help raise our standard of the game."

Meanwhile, Singapore captain Aide Iskandar describes the deal as a "timely boost" ahead of the Lions’ opening Asean Football Championship match against Vietnam.

Donning the new all-blue home kit that the Lions will be wearing on Saturday, 13 January, he said: "We are honoured that Nike has come in to be our kit sponsor. Their kits designed with the latest technology will no doubt to help us perform even better."

"This is a timely boost ahead of the game and will motivate our players even more. All the players are very excited and looking forward to Saturday’s game. We hope the fans will come out in full support."

John Soh, Country Director of Nike Singapore, revealed that the deal was borne out of talks stretching back to 2005 and said that the brand’s commitment to a five-year deal spoke volumes about its long term investment into the local game.

"The partnership underscores out committed efforts to develop local football, support youth development in the sport and help instill a winning culture of performance and success," he said.

As part of their campaign to elevate Singapore players to the same level as other international star players endorsed by Nike such as Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho, the first ever Nike Southeast Asia Just Do It television commerical has already been produced and features national team forward Indra Sahdan Daud.

Let's Re-Design Singapore's Football Strip

01 September 2006

If you see The New Paper today, you will note a story we carried about calling anyone in Singapore to help re-design our national football team's strip comprising its jersey, shorts and socks.

Brazil had Nike re-design its jersey for the recent World Cup.

Italy too, had their famous designers Dolce and Gabbana come up with a sleek, new look for the national team'soutfit.

All right, so Singapore's not exactly in the same league as the Brazils and Italys of the world stage.

But our national football team are indeed the reigning champions of the Asean region after winning the Tiger Cup inJanuary 2005.

And as they prepare to defend their regional crown come next January, The New Paper has decided to come up with aninitiative to get the Singapore public involved with the Lions in a unique and creative way.

Let's re-design the national team's jersey, we say.

Anyone who feels strong enough about The New Paper's national call, and has the talent and confidence to submit their own designs for a new-look jersey kit, is welcome.

That's the kind of national sporting sentiment we hope to tap into.

The design of the current national jersey (see today's paper for detailed pictures of the strip as worn by skipper Aide Iskandar) has not changed since 2001,when Tiger Beer sponsored the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to the tune of $15m, to be spread over 10 years.

They also applied to be apparel makers, so the Lions could have a proper kit sponsor, in the absence of big-nameinternational equipment sponsors like Nike or adidas.

But five years without an update in the overall look, is an eternity in today's fashionable media-driven world.

One look at the entire current outfit will tell you it's quite dated. And it doesn't even have a ""retro-hip'' look about it too.

Aide himself said: "I think The New Paper's idea is an excellent one.

"This is not about the glamour. It's about finding a way to get Singaporeans connected to the national team in someway.

"I hope the response is good, because it's also a chance to see what creative minds are out there when it comes tore-designing our national football jersey."

So what are you waiting for?

Take a look at the various pictures of the current Singapore football strip.

Then, using red and white, including the crescent moon and five stars, let your imagination flow.

CALLING READERS AND BUDDING DESIGNERS...Send your coloured drawings, or graphics on CD-Rom, with your contact details by 20 Sept, to the following address (afterwhich we'll submit them to FAS fortheir consideration):

You can give your instant feedback on this issue by clicking on "comments" below my sign-off here.

Cheers,Ernest LuisSports JournalistThe New Paper

Readers designs

Together with national captain Aide Iskandar, The New Paper has shortlisted the designs from readers of a possible new strip for our national football team, also known as the Lions. It's the follow-up from our campaign to re-design the national jersey.